What about the other Dark Lord?
by Carpenter Ya Toga
Summary: What if, when Dumbledore died, Grindelwald was released? A story of two dark lords vying for the world and Harry Potter in the middle of it all. No Slash. Visit my profile for a Grindelwald Challenge!
1. The Elder Wand

What if, when Dumbledore died, Grindelwald was released? A story of two dark lords vying for the world, and Harry Potter in the middle of it all.

I do not own any part of Harry Potter, the books or movies. Wish I did…

This story is almost completely AU. It starts a few weeks before Dumbledore's death in the sixth book. If there is a major problem with the characters (like me giving Ginny blond hair) please let me know in a review and I will look at it again. Thanks.

* * *

Voldemort contemplated the past year as he walked down a dark road. This road had not been used for many decades, and now, it was little more than a narrow path of broken brick.

First he was denied the full knowledge of prophecy. Then his return was exposed to the Wizarding world. The rest of the last year he had been growing in strength, and plotting the removal of several road blocks to his path to victory, namely Dumbledore.

Because of these setbacks and obstacles Voldemort needed something more then what he had in the last war. He needed an ultimate weapon.

That was why he was here, at Grindelwald's prison to find out what became of the elder wand.

The prison was actually the old fortresses base that Grindelwald used as a headquarters during WWII. After Grindelwald's defeat it took ward breakers two months to bring the wards down on the abandoned castle. His own central command as Grindelwald's prison, 'very fitting' Voldemort thought.

As he walked past the open gates of the Voldemort wondered why there were no guards. He should have run across many by now. Voldemort continued his trek to where he knew Grindelwald was.

Voldemort opened the door of the library and walked in. Grindelwald was not startled at Voldemort's appearance; Grindelwald was expecting it.

Grindelwald smiled at the younger dark lord "Welcome to my humble home."

Voldemort said nothing as he looked at the other man. Grindelwald had long white hair with a short beard. His face was gaunt; his light blue eyes were hard and his gaze was penetrating.

After a long staring match Grindelwald spoke again "You have nothing to say to me? You have come all this way to stare at your predecessor?"

"I think you know why I am here." Voldemort answered.

"Perhaps I do but I would rather you confirmed my suspicions."

"I am here for information about a weapon. A weapon that, I have been told, you have possessed. Where is the elder wand?"

Grindelwald laughed "Yes, that is why you are here isn't it, to chase after some myth? I ask you, if I had the elder wand, the unbeatable wand, then why did I lose to Dumbledore? You are a fool to have come so far just to have your stupidity pointed out to you!"

Voldemort's eyes flashed red with rage "You dare speak to me, the most powerful and feared dark lord of all time in such a fashion! With no wand do defend yourself! I will torture you into insanity and leave you here to die slowly!"

With no fear from Voldemort's declarations Grindelwald replied "I am sure you will, but before you do I have some information of another type." Voldemort was conflicted between cursing Grindelwald and listening to what he had to say. Voldemort finally decided to listen. "Why are there only three wizards of our caliper in the world? Does that not seem strange?"

"That is because I killed them all! While I was at my full power I systematically hunted and killed all the most powerful wizards on the planet. Some were prepared for me; others were not, in the end they all died. Dumbledore was the last one but he defeated me. The children were next; if Dumbledore had fallen I would have killed you soon enough."

"When I was imprisoned I continued the hunt, though it was through the followers I had left. They killed all the children, but they couldn't find you. By the time you started your terrorist group you were too strong for them to kill. So that is how only three powerful wizards survived. But there is now another wizard growing in strength; one with the power to destroy both of us, if he is allowed to live."

"Harry Potter is another that my operatives could not kill. He is too well guarded; I am bound to this prison and cannot leave to kill him myself. You must kill Harry Potter before he is trained."

"So you just wanted to give me a history lesson and charge me with a task that I am already working on?" Voldemort replied to Grindelwald's long monolog "Now you will suffer! Crucio!...Crucio!" Voldemort looked at his wand in astonishment and wondered why it was not working.

Grindelwald smiled "Having trouble? How unfortunate; let us see how my magic is working." With no wand and using his right hand, Grindelwald immobilized Voldemort. "My magic seems to be working just fine." Then with his left hand Grindelwald levitated Voldemort's wand out of reach and with a small motion of his hand broke the wand in 3 places. "You are a fool to come to my home and try to kill me."

Grindelwald continued "I have used the last four decades to create tens of thousands of micro wards. Combined they give me absolute power over everything in this fortress, including who is allowed to use magic. Impressive and never before done because of the amount of time and effort it takes."

"Now I believe it is time for you to go kill a certain someone. Oh, and one more thing, I am the most powerful and feared dark lord of all time. When you are dead and turn to dust, I will be the one they remember!" With that Grindelwald waved his hand and Voldemort was teleported to the outer gate

In rage, Voldemort used his spare wand to throw curses at the gate, only to have his curses reflected back at him. After ten fruitless minutes Voldemort disapparated.


	2. Plans Go Forward!

Chapter Two: Plans Go Forward!

Voldemort sat in his office thinking over his conversation with Grindelwald. 'Why would Grindelwald let me go like that? He could have kept me there for a long time before I found a way to escape.'

It didn't make sense anyway that Voldemort looked at it. Grindelwald was supposed to be a broken old man, yet he seemed to still be the same age as he was in WWII. Grindelwald was not magically weak ether, as one would expect from a wizard that had not used his magic extensively for decades.

Both of these questions seemed easy enough to answer. Grindelwald must have a plan to escape and resume his conquests and he, Voldemort, was part of those plans. Voldemort had no illusions; Grindelwald's plans where not for his benefit.

As for Grindelwald's magic, Grindelwald must have incorporated, into the wards, a way to use all his magic without a wand. If that was the case, then Grindelwald would have no advantage outside of his stronghold. Furthermore, if the wards were destroyed, Grindelwald's unnatural abilities to control magic would be negated.

Voldemort had no way of knowing how strong Grindelwald's forces are or how close Grindelwald was to freeing himself. Fortunately, Voldemort's plans to kill Dumbledore were very close to fruition. Then he could deal with Grindelwald.

It had been amusing to watch Draco Malfoy's attempts to assassinate Dumbledore but it was time that Draco fixed the cabinet to allow a real servant of the Dark Lord to finish the job.

Voldemort summoned Wormtail. When he arrived Voldemort took a book off the shelves behind his desk and gave it to Wormtail. "Give this book to Severus. Tell him to give it to Draco as soon as he can."

"Yes my Lord!" Wormtail replied. He had seen Voldemort's office many times and recognized the book even though he didn't know the title. Curious, he looked at the title Magicaly Cabinets: Build New and Fix Old. Wormtail walked out without asking why Draco did not get this book sooner. It was never wise to question Voldemort.

* * *

Three weeks later…

"Water." Dumbledore requested weakly

Harry looked around for water. The only source was the calm lake. Harry didn't want to disturb the lake so tried Aquamenti. Frustrated that the spell didn't work he decided to get some from the lake. As soon as the cup touched the lakes surface the inferi that were in the water started to move and climb onto the island.

Remembering that Dumbledore said something about inferi being vulnerable against fire Harry tried to fire Incendio. This worked against the inferi in front of him but they were coming from all sides. In a few moments the inferi would be using their cold hands to choke the life out of the two of them.

Suddenly, a huge ring of fire pushed the inferi from the island. "Get in the boat!" Dumbledore said over the roar of the flames. He continued to protect them with his flaming shield until the inferi where again closed in their underground cave.

Exhausted, Dumbledore had to rely on Harry to support him the rest of the way out. When they were out Harry managed to disapparate them both to the village of Hogsmeade.

Taking out two shrunken brooms from his pocket Dumbledore told Harry to enlarge them, they then began the short trip to Hogwarts. Even though the trip was short, it was not easy. Dumbledore had to rely on Harry to keep him from falling off. When they finally reached the

Astronomy Tower Dumbledore dismounted and leaned heavily on a railing.

Hearing footsteps Dumbledore gestured for Harry to stand back. Then, Dumbledore immobilized Harry when he had retreated out of sight.

Franticly Harry tried to break his invisible bonds. Unable to do so Harry could only watch as Dumbledore was disarmed by Draco Malfoy. After trading a few comments, it was obvious that Malfoy couldn't bring himself to kill anyone much less Dumbledore, other death eaters joined them.

"Dumbles is finally powerless!" Cried Alecto Carrow "We can kill him at long last."

"Draco, it is time for you to kill him." Fenrir Greyback told Malfoy. After ten seconds Fenrir told Malfoy again this time with more urgency as he could hear the battle was further up the stairs then before.

Malfoy still didn't move. It was at this point that Severus Snape entered.

"Severus…Please." Moaned Dumbledore.

Ignoring Dumbledore's pleas Snape pointed his wand straight at Dumbledore and killed the greatest wizard of a generation with two words "Avada Kedavra!"

Dumbledore slumped to the ground, dead. It took a moment for the spell that keep Harry immobilized to fade away and in that time the death eaters where already gone and were making their way out of Hogwarts. Harry was too stunned by his mentor's death to chase Dumbledore's killers. All Harry could do was kneel by the warm corpse in a daze.

* * *

Finally! After so many years, Grindelwald could break the ward that Dumbledore had placed on him to hold him prisoner. Dumbledore thought that the ward would still hold him after his death. Now the world would feel the full weight of Dumbledore's mistake.

With a tremendous effort Grindelwald gathered his magic and overwhelmed the wards that were not setup by Grindelwald himself. Outside the fortress the guards patrolling the parameter saw the wards start to glow before they shattered in a beautiful array of color. This was defiantly a prison brake they thought as they ran inside to stop the escape.

When they reached the 'cell' as the guards called it, they saw their fellow guards where in heaps on the floor. The sight was not pretty. To be honest they couldn't tell one from another and they had been working with them for the last five weeks.

"Don't move! Put your hands out!" The remaining guards yelled as they prepared the magic suppressant hand cuffs for use. Grindelwald didn't listen to they and they were too scared to see the dark lord towering above them looking very unlike the broken old man they thought Grindelwald was.

"Good of you to join us." Grindelwald replied gesturing to the heaps that were all that were left of their fellow guards "Now I don't have to chase you down."

The screams of the guards could be heard throughout the fortress, but no one was there to hear them. It was time to begin a new Reich, the Fourth Reich!

* * *

At the same time the blank portrait in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts came to life and it only had one sentence to say. "Oh dear, this was not the plan at all."


	3. What Now?

Chapter 3 What Now?

"Harry? Harry we have to go." McGonagall said to Harry who was still dazed. After a moment she turned to Hagrid "Please take care of things hear."

"Aye." Was all he said in return. He was obviously caught up in his own sorrow.

"Come on Harry." McGonagall said as she half dragged Harry away from the tower.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

The phone rang waking General Johann Koch; he picked up the phone in annoyance.

"General Koch, we have a…"

"My god man, do you know what time it is?" Koch cut the man off.

"Yes sir, but you really need to be informed. We have detected a magical surge from Nurmendard."

General Koch was silent. It was almost unbelievable; Grindelwald making a move after so many years. Something must have changed and he needed to find out what that was. But first, he had to contain the situation.

"Sir? Are you still there?" Asked the man on the other end of the phone

"Yes, put me through to the minster. And let me know if you find out anything that might be connected to Grindelwald and his unexpected escape attempt. And one more thing, find out the movements of Voldemort; I want to know if he had something to do with this. Make it fast."

"Yes sir, the minister should be on the line shortly." With that the phone went dead leaving Koch to think alone.

Troubled times were coming. Koch could feel it. Grindelwald's strategies were heavily studied by all German officers. No one could say that Grindelwald was a poor strategist. He wouldn't have struck out without having a strong position. Koch just didn't know what his strength was. They should tread carefully until they knew the whole situation. Hopefully the minister felt the same way.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry could feel McGonagall pulling him…somewhere, but he just couldn't find the energy to care. Other than Serious, Dumbledore was the only other adult that he felt close to.

Harry didn't bother to look around until McGonagall talked to him.

"Harry, you need to stay here. I will be back in a while." She hurried out of the room

He finally looked around and noticed that he was in the headmaster's office. He felt almost physical pain at the reminder of headmaster. The whole world was going to hell and he now knew that it was up to him to regain the stability of his nation or die in the effort. It was not a good feeling. He didn't know anything about how to do such a thing.

Harry didn't see the old man staring at him until he talked "I am so sorry Harry."

Whirling to face the voice Harry looked into the eyes of Albus Dumbledore.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"General Koch, I am told you have a report for me." Minister for Magic Ernst Eichmann said over the phone

"Yes Minister, earlier tonight a magical surge was detected at Nurmendard. It is my belief that Grindelwald tried or has escaped. We don't know at this time what happened because there has been no communication with the guards of the prison. I have sent scouts to assess the situation there and report back to me."

"The situation must be contained; I want the press to report this magical surge right next to a picture of Grindelwald's corpse. Grindelwald broke the terms for his imprisonme…" Koch didn't hear the rest of the sentence because of the aid opening up the door

"Just a moment Minister I have a report ready for us." He looked up at the aid "Report! And speak up so the Minister can hear you on the phone."

"Grindelwald is still at Nurmendard. He seems to be waiting for us in the outer courtyard just inside of the outer wall. We still have had no communication with the guards but we have seen several body. We believe the guards are all dead. I also looked into Voldemort's movements; we found very little concrete evidence of any major movements. It looks like he is still building his support. We know even less about his covert operations. We don't think it had anything to do with Grindelwald but earlier tonight Headmaster Dumbledore was murdered by death eaters at Hogwarts. We know this from a report filed at the British Ministry barely thirty minutes ago by Minerva McGonagall; she is the Deputy Headmaster at Hogwarts. That is all we have been able to find at this time." With his report done the aid left

"Did you hear that Minister?" Koch asked

"Yes I did. There is no denying it, though I am sure the British will, they are at war with themselves. And we will be to if we don't end this tonight. Send thirty of your best men to end this. Keep me posted General."

"I don't think this is the best course of action Minister. Grindelwald has proven that he is just as powerful as he once was. By now he could have set up all sorts of traps for our men." Koch replied

"I understand your concern but this must be settled tonight; we may lose a few men but there is no way he can take them all down. I want to know the moment Grindelwald is dead." With that the minister hung up the phone to leave General Koch to prepare for the attack. He had work to do.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"I know that a portrait is no substitute for the real me, but this portrait does contain all the memories of the Albus Dumbledore you knew." The portrait Dumbledore told Harry

Still almost unable to believe it Harry took a moment to decide if he should be happy or angry. His emotions finally deciding to be angry Harry started yelling. "How could you die and leave me by myself! How could you have trusted Snape! I can't beat Voldemort without you! I am not good enough…" Harry whispered the end almost choking back his sobs

"I am so sorry Harry. I didn't mean to leave you alone. I was actually going to fake my death and take you away to train you for the last few months I had to live. I would have never believed that Severus would kill me. He gave me an unbreakable vow that he was not loyal to Voldemort."

"Snape obviously found a loop hole in his unbreakable vow." Harry replied scornfully

Dumbledore gave a smile "Obviously. I may not be here in the flesh but I can still help you if you chose to accept my help." Harry nodded in affirmation "Very well, you must go back to Privet Drive one last time. But you will not be going alone; I will be going with you. But no one should know that my portrait is awake. Voldemort fears me for many reasons; even though I no longer have the power I did with a body Voldemort will want to destroy me. There is a blank portrait in my drawer; replace it with my portrait and take me with you. We have much work to do over the summer." Harry did as Dumbledore asked and waited for Professor McGonagall to return

A/N

This was my update right before the new year. I hope you enjoyed it.

I do have the entire story line finished I just need to write it.

Thanks to everyone who puts up with my really slow updates. (:


	4. First Strike (Half Chapter)

Chapter 4 First Strike

General Koch was still nervous about sending his men into this situation, but even he followed orders. "Ok men, this is your target. Gellert Grindelwald, immensely powerful wizard, magic theory prodigy, orchestrator of World War II, and longtime prisoner of Nurmendard. Last night there were large magical discharges detected at Nurmendard, since then we have had no contact with anyone on the inside. We believe that all the guards are dead and that Grindelwald has free range inside the fortress. He has had ample time to set up traps for you. You are to get inside and terminate Grindelwald. Assume that Grindelwald is just as powerful as he ever was; don't take chances, finish it as soon as possible. You have 30 minutes to prepare. Dismissed."

HPHPHPHPHP

At Nurmendard General Koch had set up a perimeter to contain the situation. The standing orders were nothing in, nothing out. When the infiltration team arrived the area was well fortified. It was now 4:48 AM.

'Very good response time considering the incident happened five hours ago.' Koch thought to himself

As Koch walked over to his men he heard one of the men grumbling "How do we know Grindelwald is even here? I mean he would have been long gone if he had escaped."

Koch knew the man did not expect an answer but he answered him anyway. "Because he is waiting for you in the courtyard"

That got the soldiers attention. The man grabbed his binoculars and looked through the open gate of the outer wall to the courtyard, sure enough Grindelwald was sitting in a meditative stance, waiting. "No fuc- way!" He exclaimed as he pasted the binoculars the other to see.

They were all nervous now. It was the predator that waited for the prey. And right now Grindelwald clearly saw them as prey.

"Ok men it is now 5:00 AM. Good luck, move out." Koch ordered

The team moved through the ward perimeter, through the outer wall gate and into the courtyard between the outer and inner wall. Grindelwald was on the far end of the courtyard with his back to the inner wall's gate. The inner gate was down effectively blocking Grindelwald's only means of escape as the soldiers surrounded him.

Once the soldiers were in position they opened fire; or, at least they tried to. It didn't take long for them to find out that their magic was not working.

Grindelwald stood; looking at the faces of his would be executers and smiled. The outer wall's gate closed with a thud trapping the team inside.

Outside Koch could hear the screams of pain of his team as the soldiers he sent in were smashed, sliced, and ripped apart by invisible forces. He didn't have any time to help them as his own position, and the entire containment perimeter came under fire by spells and small arms fire. Koch had no choice except to retreat. But even that option was taken from him as he felt the anti-apparation and anti-portkey wards move to encompass the perimeter. If any of them were to survive they would have to fight for it.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Ernst Eichmann was on the phone with his colleague Minister from England trying to reassure him that the situation was under control. He had just gotten off the phone with the French minister. Neither of them were supposed to even know about Grindelwald yet. Damn spies! "Again Cornelius, the situation is under control. Besides, I do believe you have your own problem?"

"Voldemort is under-" Fudge tried to respond

"Voldemort?!" Eichmann Scoffed "I was talking about Dumbledore."

"How do you know about Dumbledore?" Fudge asked

"The same way you know about Grindelwald." Eichmann sniped back

The sound of commotion coming near to his office got Eichmann's attention. A moment later he could hear the muffled voice of his secretary. "You can't go in, the Minister is in a very important phone call."

The door opened, reveling General Koch and two other soldiers. All three were bloodied, one not with his own blood, Koch had a small gash in his right shoulder. "Something has come up Minister, goodbye."

"Is it about Grindelwald? Wait! I have a right to kn-" 'Click' Eichmann hung up on the English Minister

"Minister, Grindelwald is still alive." Koch said gravely "And worse, the SS is still very strong and willing to server their masters Fourth Reich. Only twelve of us escaped."

The Minister was shocked. It was almost impossible to believe that Grindelwald was still so powerful. "Only twelve?" He said softly. The strike team had thirty of the best in it and the outside perimeter was fifty strong.

"We are now at war Minister. I will join the preparations once I tend to the wounds of my men and myself." With that Koch left with the other two survivors to leave the Minister to prepare for war.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

Voldemort had reached a dead-end in his search for the Elder Wand. Or more like a live-end; Grindelwald was still alive and that irritated Voldemort greatly. Voldemort knew that at one point Grindelwald had the wand. But Grindelwald was defeated by Dumbledore so Grindelwald must have lost the wand before the end of the war. Unfortunately, Voldemort could not find even a hint of the Elder Wand after the fall of Grindelwald. And torturing the location of it out of Grindelwald, though appealing, would be problematic; Voldemort's prey could fight back.

A/N Hello everyone. Here is half of chapter four. As you can tell I just stopped writing in the middle of it so I can let you know that I did not fall off the face of the earth. I hope you like it. Please leave any suggestions in the reviews. I always need those. Thanks.


End file.
